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Category: PS3

Tuesday, I was so excited about finishing an amazing game that I might have gone a bit off the rails. I don’t know that I made a cohesive whole out of my experince with the game, and instead spent a lot of words speaking only about the mechanics and portions of cool behind the game, instead of trying to really express my joy with it.

I’m going to try again. Cryx can take a rest for a little bit. its been in the spotlight long enough.

Well, Its been a long time since I’ve talked about anything other than Cryx and Warmachine here. I figured, with me finally, after almost 7 years of on and off play, beating Valkyria Chronicles, it would be a good break to talk about something different.

Released in 2008, Valkyria Chronicles is the first in a series of turn based strategy games released by Sega set in an eerily similar world to ours in early WWII. Its 1935, and the Empire is at war with the Atlantic Alliance.

Gallia, highlighted in blue, is where all the action takes place. A Small and neutral country, but rich in the fuel stores of this world, it is invaded by the Imperial alliance. You follow along as Welkin Gunther, son of the famous General Gunther of the First Eurpoan war and co-creator of the Edelweiss, a tank extremely ahead of its time with many, leads Squad 7 of the Gallian Militia on increasingly dangerous missions.

Spoilers follow, so if you want to play blind, stop here. Otherwise, both mechanical and Storyline spoilers abound.

The amazing and astounding things coming out of, and around, and even near E3 this year are beyond my wildest Dreams. Every expectation that I could have had, if I had ever paid attention to E3 before, were completely blown away. I have gone from lamenting that I had a video game system at all to being overjoyed that I managed to pick one up last year. I have re-joined the Inquisition in full force, and am stoked to get to the end and move on to the next game, something I’ve not had in years.

I’m just going to run through the list by enthusiasm level. While It is not representative of when I heard the list, it is very representative of how gleeful I am at each release.

Valkyria Chronicles is likley one of the best games I ever put down, and it makes me sad that I am writing this 4 years after its release, and that I am writing this instead of playing it right now.

Valkyria Chronicles is, from where I stand some 6 missions in, a retelling of WWII in a alternate world. The dates are right-ish, and the bad guys are kinda correct. Also, there are tanks, primitive rifles, bazookas and light machine guns. Everything is in place!

The connection is weak, but the feel works out for me.

“Gallia”

The game’s main characters are Welkin Gunther and Alicia Melchiot, a college student and a baker, respectivly, that join the militia and fight against the Imperial invaders of Imperia. Welkin ends up with a Tank his father left him, and Alicia becomes a leader in her own right. I’m not all the way into the story, but its been fairly good for following around a bunch of youngsters, something which I generally don’t latch onto. For one, It seems that this story makes them feel younger, which I am good with.

Right. Gameplay.

I enjoy turn based strategy games, probably too much, and my love of XCOM, both new and old, is testament to that love. Valkyria Chronicles is a version of turn based strategy that I enjoy more than most. The basics of the game is, very much like a tabletop game I very much enjoy, based on orders. Each turn you get to take, you have a certain amount of orders to spend, however you so desire. If you so like, you can spend it on the Edilweiss for the whole of the turn and have your tank just try and Rambo the enemy army. Its unlikely to work, but you can give it a try! Additionally, each subsequent order spend on the same unit reduces its move stat, meaning you can’t get as far.

There are Six classes of units, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

As you spend your orders and activate your troopers, you’ll move around the battlefield freely, almost like an third person shooter. If you encounter enemies, however, they will shoot at you, provided they don’t use their single shot weapons. This holds true for your soldiers attacking enemy troops, so you can really get good use out of choke points if they have to come after you. Once you get into a position you like, you can go into your aim mode, which is almost an FPS view, and choose your action to take. Once your action is taken, often by shooting the enemy, you can either end your action, or start moving again.

If a character is reduced to 0 Hp, they are downed and are no longer active. You have three turns to get another character over there, call a medic, and evacuate them or they’ll die, permanently. This can also happen if an enemy reaches them as well.

During each mission, you can call in reinforcements if you need to, from the bases scattered about the level. Once you do, a new solider will come to your aid as long as you don’t have the maximum number of active troopers on the board.

In addition to the battles and the turn based fights, there are also tech trees for each weapon, as well as some for the armors. The Eidlwiess can also be upgraded, and has tech trees for all sorts of aspects.

Finally, even your soliders gain levels, making them better and better as you go along.

I’m just starting to get into the game, so I’ll have more information and maybe some battles to go over when I come around next time. I don’t expect to get much writing done over the holidays, but we will see how it all pans out, and maybe I can get an article or two out there about the progress I’m making!

How Long have I been doing this? As long as I can remember, almost. Dying, reviving and dying again, battling my way through hordes of undead and their legions of lords, overseers and taskmasters, each locked in place. Now, however, I feel it. Its almost time. I am almost there.

These last few weeks since NOVA have been killer. I’ve not had the motivation, opportunity or drive to really get into a whole lot of gaming, and I think its creating an even further slump that continues to drive downward.

What I have done, I’ve not really been doing in detail, so I’m just going to rattle over some high-view stuff on what I’ve been up to, and what I am considering doing.

I’ve been playing Dark Souls II for months now. And I’ve not been extremely committed to it. Something about the game has just slowed my progress to a crawl, where it didn’t in the original. Maybe I should just bulk up and approach the game much like I did the first time, but I’m not sure even that will stave off the sheer brute force I feel I need to have to beat the game.

This time around, as I’ve mentioned, I am trying to play the game as it feels it is supposed to be played. I’ve leveled up my stats in a way that seems more educated, I’m using a weapon that takes a bit more finesse, and I am wearing armor that doesn’t make me roll around like I way a million pounds. Unfortunately, that seems to not be what the game wants me to do, as I keep running into areas that routinely bash my head in.

It has been a long time since I posted on my Dark Souls II progress, but its because I am playing it at what on could call a glacial pace. Instead of sinking my every available hour into it, I have split time with my other hobbies.